I’m currently waiting on building a new system (which will run windows 8) but I wanted in on the windows contest . I didn’t really want to use one of my windows 8 licences on my old system, so I figured I’d run the enterprice evaluation version on a VHD, which I could discard to get back my current system to its previous state once the new system is built. I found a great guide by Harold Wong on technet, and while I was working finishing up the post this guide is based off , discovered you could install to a hard drive using the same method, found that r.tanner.f had used a similar method for an install on a actual drive. I used a windows 7 system to set this up and run it on, and you will probably find it easier if you use the WAIK from the same architecture as this system. This is pretty much like wubi – allowing me to run a seperate copy of windows without repartitioning my drive.

Prerequisites:

• Windows 8 install disk – I went with the enterprise evaluation disk, You could probably do this with a regular installer with a key as well
• imagex from WAIK , I had it from a previous experiment
• easybcd , bcdboot (its in system32 and part of a default windows system), visualbcd or some other bcd editor

Preparing a VHD

You can create a VHD from disk manager – hit start, and search for disk management. Select Create and format hard disk partitions (or go to control panel -> computer management -> disk management)

Creating a VHD is very simple, select action, and Create VHD

Set up VHD to taste, I’ve selected a large dynamic disk on the partition I usually store VM images on.

This should result in a new ‘disk’ you can use like any other disk. Rightclick on the disk name, and select initialise, then rightclick on the partition on the right side to format. Take note of the new drive latter – here its H:

Installation process

At this point, we pretty much can treat the VHD the very same way we’d treat a regular hard drive. You’ll want to extract WAIK and the install ISOs to separate folders, or mount them. Take note of the path of install.wim on the windows 8 install cd – this is usually in \install\sources\ relative to the root of the windows 8 files

Copy imagex and (if you’re using it bcdboot) to a convenient location. Start up a command prompt with admin privileges

Run imagex from where you saved it – imagex /apply /path/to/install.wim 1 h:\ where h: is the vhd’s drive letter. This took me around 10 minutes

There’s two options to make the image bootable, firstly, to run bcdboot from WAIK. I went with easybcd instead, since I didn’t have bcdboot on hand. Select add new entry, and set things as follows in the windows not the VHD tab. We’re treating the VHD like a normal disk.

Now reboot, and select windows 8 from the windows boot manager, and you should be set. The second stage installer will start, and you can continue the installation as per normal. If you don’t want the install of windows 8 any more simply delete the boot entry and VHD

You can also easily backup the VHD by detaching, then reattaching it. Dosen’t get any easier than that

‘Tis the season: as family and friends head off to college, the requests for laptop recommendations start rolling in. It’s a semi-annual tradition for me to blog about my recommendations, so let’s get started! If you haven’t seen my 3 part series on “choosing a computer for college”, check those posts out for some good background info that’s mostly still relevant:

• Computers and College Part I: How do I choose?
• Computers and College Part II: Saving Money
• Computers and College Part III: Protecting Your Computer

Since I wrote those articles in 2011, the computing landscape has shifted dramatically towards tablets, slates, and a plethora of weird hybrid devices. I’ll be splitting up my recommendations into several categories: primary laptops, for students who plan to have a single laptop for all their needs; primary tablets, for students who plan to have a laptop-grade tablet as their primary device; and companion devices, for students who plan to have a desktop or desktop replacement, but want a small, light, and cheaper device for carrying around campus.

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I recently moved to a bigger city, and of course the first thing that I setup was my internet connection.  I’ve had the same ISP for a couple of years now, and they’ve been alright.  I’ve noticed drops in service here and there but overall it was a tolerable experience.  However, as soon as I started watching my online shows in the new place, I noticed some dramatic changes in my viewing experience.  There were long periods of waiting for the shows to buffer, and I felt like I was relapsing to my younger days of dial-up.  I got so frustrated one night I even tweeted about it:

Just took me two hours to watch a 1 hour movie. Why I’m leaving @coxcomm. — Krono$ (@SuperKronos) January 28, 2013

I finally decided to switch over and give DSL a shot, but I didn’t cancel my Cable.  I figured I’d do a little testing and really see who was the better service after all.  I put together a pretty extensive document of my results.  You can find that document and all the data I captured and used in a link below. This blog post is a summary of what I found to be the important parts.

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Congratulations!

Great job everyone. We had a great go around with this contest and lot of participants. With over 2000 posts during the contest period there were plenty of questions and answers about Windows 8. For more stats, Bob put together a stats web app where you can compare contest stats and even personalize it! Go give it a check out for more details on the contest as a whole.

All winners will receive an email from the Stack Exchange team with instructions on how to get your prize. (Note: the T-Shirt emails have already been sent, so if you achieved Level 1 and didn’t get the email, check you spam folders and make sure you weren’t suspended for cheating.)

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October 26th is coming fast. Are you ready for Windows 8? Super User is!

We’re having a party and you’re invited. Ask and answer questions to complete the challenge levels, and complete different tasks like editing, voting, and blogging to win the eight tile challenges. Each level you beat and each tile you finish enters you for sweet prizes, including the grand prize of a Microsoft Surface RT! more »

User George Duckett came across a weird thing while performing a simple ping:

He performed a simple ping request but missed a ‘dot’.  I assume he meant to ping 192.168.0.72 but instead ended up typing 192.168.072.  What’s really amazing though (as pictured below) was that it worked!!! but not to 192.168.0.72 it sent the ping request to 192.168.0.58 :

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Browsing on the web may seem harmless to most, but we SuperUsers are typically a secretive bunch.  We’ don’t like data being shared about us unless we tell them to.

So when user Pickledegg asked about how much info can websites can get, it became a pretty popular question.

I am trying to determine if the information shown on the website www.whatsmyip.org is the absolute maximum amount of information that a webserver can obtain from a web visitor. Does anyone know of any other sites that will be able to get more information from the user passively like this? I’m not talking about port-sniffing or any kind of interaction from the user, just the info that a server can get from a ‘dumb’ visit.

So what’s the verdict?

Here’s what we found.  From What’s my IP they can determine the following (I removed un-important info, if I missed something feel free to comment):

• External IP
• Homename
• Proxy
• Internal (LAN) IP
• Operating System and version
• Screen Resolution
• Cookies Enabled
• Browser Plugins
• Location (kinda sorta)
• And a WHOIS Lookup

Basically is looked like this (I put green checkmarks across things that were correct):

But there’s more!  A browser can also give away your installed fonts! GASP.  Wait… what?  Why is that important?

User Informaficker had this to say:

Installed fonts are probably the most identifying piece of information as soon as you start adding one or two. Just because of the amount of fonts out there, it is unlikely to have the same set of fonts on two different computers. (As long as they are used by different persons)

This means that if you have any custom installed fonts on your computer, you have a greater likelihood to have a different “Font Identity” than others since there are lots of fonts out there.

How do I stop this monstrosity?

First DON’T LET IT!!!

Browsers are typically good at telling you what’s going on.  I suggest that you NEVER select Always run on this site (or other browser equivalents), and only allow trusted websites to run Java or Flash.  Disabling Java or Flash is another option, however with a majority of websites using either Java or Flash this can be difficult and annoying.

However, the browser can still access your External IP address.  A way around that is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).  I tested this out and it worked, including getting the wrong internal IP, since it picked up the VPN’s Internal IP and not my actual home networks IP.

Overall, it goes without saying to just be careful when ever your browsing the interwebs.

This weeks question of the week come from these two questions:

• Windows 8 Hyper-V – how to give VM internet access?

• How do I install and use Window Virtual PC in Windows 8?

One of them asked by Graham Clark, and the other is a self post by myself.  This prompted me to do a more formal review of Microsoft’s Hyper-V for Windows 8.

What is Hyper-V for Windows 8?

Hyper-V for Windows 8 is really called Client Hyper-V.  It’s similar in many aspects to the Microsoft Server’s Hyper-V (2008 and the upcoming 2012).  What’s different about Client Hyper-V is that it was customized to fit the portable environments, such as laptops, that developer’s find themselves in.  What does Hyper-V do?

In brief, Hyper-V lets you run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit x86 operating system at the same time on the same computer. Instead of working directly with the computer’s hardware, the operating systems run inside of a virtual machine (VM).

(source)

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The number 42 is amazing, and so to honor Douglas Adams answer to live, the universe and everything, I have collected 42 amazing questions/answers that we haven’t featured yet.  These aren’t in any particular order, as they are all interesting or awesome in some way or another.

1 Storing hard drive near electric wire – Ever wonder if your hard drive could be ruined while being near electical lines well here’s the tl;dr answer:

In short, don’t worry about it, unless you’re working with some kind of industrial equipment with VERY high currents on that cable (the amount of interference emitted from a power cable is proportional to the current on it). Household currents are unlikely to be a problem.

2 What are PATH and other environment variables, and how can I set or use them? – Environment variable can be a powerful tool to use.  The answer is a great guide on the how’s what’s and why’s of environment variables within Windows.

3 Why do disks fragment? – With the advent of SSD’s and their completive prices there may come a day when fragmentation will become a thing of the past, but for now it’s something we need to deal with.  The answers still provide insight to the woe’s of the the past when it comes to disk drive fragmentations.

4 How does a CPU ‘know’ what commands and instructions actually mean? – There’s a lot of “magic” that goes on behind the scenes as you operate your computer.  All of this magic eventually ends up being assembly level instructions which in turn…  well that’s the question, and the answers are pretty good at explaining the basics.

5 What makes a laptop overheat? – Laptops are notorious for overheating, and this question/answer duo helps to try to explain what it is.

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Windows 8 is out for MSDN account holders (including students with MSDN-AA access)!  And it’s set to release on October 26th.  With that there are bound to be tons of questions in regards to Windows 8.   This post is meant to be a collection awesome questions/answers found on Super User that are tagged Windows 8.  This is what we’ve got so far:

General Understanding/Installation

• What is the difference between Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT?

• How can I upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 and keep my files and applications?

The New Modern Apps

• How do I exit a Modern UI app?

• How do I turn off Modern UI in Windows 8?

• How to delete contacts from the Windows 8 People app?

As time goes on, and more questions/answers come along, we’ll update this help all you Super Users out there with the new Windows 8.